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What about peace, harmony and understanding social rigidity: Asian approach to action research by Nicholas and Harré

When you read papers or reports about action research, how often do you come across one that centers an Asian perspective? For me, such papers were hard to come by as I wrote my dissertation.

Take a moment to think about your impressions of Singapore – you might have imagined a clean, efficient, regulated, safe, harmonious city in nature.

At first I thought that action research was not for me. How would I focus on power struggles, race, justice, oppression, empowerment and social transformation as a as a Singaporean. How would I generate advocacy and structural change? Typical action research felt largely antithetical to my experiences as a Singaporean, where discourses about these issues tend to be bounded by sociopolitical norms of harmony.

At the same time, primers and handbooks also proclaim that action research is highly contextual and fundamentally about building close relationships with community members to engage in a joint inquiry that produces outcomes relevant to those involved and the larger society. That remains quite relevant to working with community groups in Singapore!

Could I help another reader to feel seen, and to support the practice of collaborative research for everyone? Perhaps Singapore and other Asian countries need not remain underrepresented?

This paper is the fruit of many critical conversations shared with my then-doctoral supervisor, Niki Harré. By highlighting an ongoing project with a nonprofit farm that began in 2021, we describe a Singaporean approach to action research rooted in a culture that emphasizes group harmony, social role rigidity, and characterized by strong state influence in civil society. I hope that sharing this emic approach can encourage others to do the same, so that we may continuously learn from each other and refine how we think and do action research.

Link to paper and forever citation

Nicholas, S. O., & Harré, N. (2026). Collaborative, Action-Oriented Research in Asian Psychology: An Example From Singapore. Action Research.